Kingsbury hire marks rapid change in Tech football program

In a whirlwind week, the energy around Red Raider football has evolved dramatically

Kliff Kingsbury speaks with local media inside Chaparral Jet Center at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport on Wednesday evening after he was announced as the new Texas Tech head football coach.

Kliff Kingsbury speaks with local media inside Chaparral Jet Center at the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport. Kingsbury was announced as the new Texas Tech head football coach Wednesday evening.

It was supposed to a celebratory weekend in New York for Kliff Kingsbury.

And to be sure, in the City That Never Sleeps, the 33-year-old — who watched his protege quarterback at Texas A&M, Johnny Manziel, collect the Heisman Trophy on Saturday — likely got very little shut eye.

But not for reasons he thought when he boarded a flight to the East Coast.

“I thought it would be a fun, New York weekend,” said Kingsbury, who was hired on Wednesday to be the football coach at his alma mater, Texas Tech. “You know, you get up there, and (Manziel) won the trophy, and about mid-Saturday, things started happening and it just went from there. So it was a lot of stress, but this is where I want to be.”

Less than 24 hours after Kingsbury saw the news that former coach Tommy Tuberville had bolted for Cincinnati, his phone lit up with a call from Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt. By Tuesday, the two met in person to discuss the job, and a day later they shook hands on a four-year deal that will average $2 million per year in guaranteed income, according to Tech spokesman Blayne Beal.

So when Kingsbury landed in Lubbock on Wednesday night and stepped off a private jet, at the tail end of four roller-coaster days, it was of little surprise that his major life change had yet to sink in.

“I’m kind of on cloud nine right now, just rolling with it,” he said. “I just can’t put into words how excited I am to be back.”

That has seemingly been the prevailing emotion among Lubbockites in the hours since Kingsbury’s hiring. Whether it has been posts on social media, conversations at the airport, or chatter inside restaurants and bars, the town has been buzzing.

The splash has already reverberated at the ticket offices and in donation boxes. The Red Raider Club, the scholarship fundraising arm for Tech athletics, collected $29,585 in donations as of 5 p.m. Thursday. In the 24 hours following the Kingsbury hiring, 533 season tickets were reserved for the 2013 season and Tech sold nearly 2,500 additional tickets to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, moving its total sold up to 7,400. (Tech’s ticket allotment for the Dec. 28 bowl is 12,000.)

The fanfare will increase at 11:30 a.m. today, when Kingsbury is formally introduced as Tech’s coach during an open-to-the-public press conference inside United Spirit Arena.

Any Tech fans who may have left on a trip off the grid last Friday have returned to a football program that has done a lightning-quick, 180-degree turn.

The shock of Tuberville’s departure soon turned into anxiousness, as fans eagerly awaited Hocutt’s decision as to who would be the school’s next head coach. By Wednesday, the widespread emotion seemed to be joy.

“Kliff’s going to be a great head coach for the Red Raiders,” Hocutt said. “We’re excited to have him back.”

Kingsbury didn’t waste any time getting to work on Thursday. He spoke on the phone with Davis Webb, Tech’s 2013 quarterback commit out of Prosper, who tweeted that he was “FIRED up!!!” after the conversation.

The new coach also added the first assistant to his staff in Eric Morris, the former Tech inside receiver who coached with Kingsbury at Houston for two seasons. Morris, who last season was the inside receivers coach at Washington State under former Tech coach Mike Leach, plans to meet with Kingsbury today to discuss his role on the staff.

Kingsbury won’t coach the Red Raiders during their bowl game, so his first chance to put his system to work will be during spring practice. That didn’t stop him from receiving a number of questions on Wednesday night during an impromptu media gathering at Chaparral Jet Center about what the football is going to look like when he straps on a head coach’s headset for the first time.

But he wasn’t ready to give too much away just yet.

“You’ll have to tune in,” Kingsbury said, “but it should be fun. It should be fun.”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

I loved that guy--he played with such heart! He will be an inspiration for the younger players, and he definitely knows that position. It's a good hire for the offensive side, but what is worrisome is what will (can) KK do for the defense?

Man sure is going to be boring around here without the chaigang, the tiger walk, the Tommy Tuberville show, the injury excuses, and the bought out media telling us how tuberville has the Red Raiders headed in the right direction. I think Kliff will have someone in here that will bring in balls to the wall defense. Still think Tubs had more input on both offense and defense than we'll ever know. Thus the monumental success of the tuberville era.

Kliff played for Belichek and he played pro. He wasn't just suited up watching the games, he was learning! I have no doubt that Kingsbury will add a Defensive emphasis to his game plan, because he has learned the importance of playing both sides of the ball.

Patience. Kingsbury will put together a program that Texas Tech will be proud to call Raider Red!

..... not waiting til next year, this bowl season will be fun too (hey AJ, when are we going to get some stories about the current PLAYERS? You know, those guys who bleed, sweat, blow-out knees and actually win or lose the games? Our team?). Won't be much fun having a coach without a team. I know journalism has gone the way of the dinosaur, but I'd like to see stories on our current players and staff (whoa coyote, not that staff). And I'll bet you haters are really depressed hearing those donation and ticket-sales numbers. GO TECH!!!

Not that peter, Peter. Again your feeble attempt at humor contained nothing of substance, lest you count what you probably intended as a shot across the bow to determine if my affinity for other men is similar to yours (I refer you to the "playful" dialogue between yourself and dogdave17, the fierce, scary guy). I must inform you that Im married. I do, though, wish you good fortune in your search for that special fella. Too bad Craig James isnt available. Given your feelings about Texas Tech, I'll bet the two of you would get along beautifully.

I will be 100% on board when Hance is gone! My interest went from 0% to 80% after Kliff was hired. I'm excited that I actually care again. It feels good. BUT...I will NEVER forgive Hance for the damage he did to Leach, Tech, and the die hard fans in 2009! Get rid of Hance, pay Mike the $ that Cincy paid Tech to hire the "liar". Until then, I will only be partially on board! I LOVE Kliff! I am 100% behind Mike Leach! FORGET?? HELL NO!

I agree with what you say. But Leach is fine--he's got a $10M contract and won't get cheated out of a penny.

The chancellor and inner circle will forever be remembered for their arrogance and ego--that will be their legacy. In the reasonably near future, they will be thankfully gone, though their despicable acts will live in infamy.

With this hiring, we have survived. I believe we have the firing and the era of a "Just Passing Through" coach behind us.

We can't just see the light at the end of the tunnel, we're OUT of the tunnel.

Nobody believes you have an office. And did you just ask me to get together? Bill are you asking me out on a date? I knew there were a few of you hancers, that leaned that way. Hell, there are only a few of you at all. By the way, I copied your post and emailed it to the Lubbock Police Department. Obviously, you just threatened to decapitate me. Congratulations, now the police will know you threatened me. Youre not particularly smart billtt are you? Thus, my doubt that you have an office, unless youre counting your bathroom. Hey I wouldnt worry about your threat. LPD probably wont get around to looking into it for a while. Youll have time to kiss your boyfriend goodbye before you go to jail. You hate me, dont you, billtt? Or is it ttbill? WELL I see ol billtt got his hancer post pulled. Hes not a very nice guy.

You all know that Kingsbury is in here to win immediately. He's not going to mosey around for a while and then decide to turn it up. I've always heard the new coaches always use the first two years to kind of drift and lose with the current kids to show everyone that this is not their team. I have more respect for someone that can come in and win immediately. Heres to wishing Kliff and the staff the best!!!

The hancers play the thumbs up thumbs down game. Thats why you never see more than 4 or 5 thumbs. But this billtt guy actually threatened to cut my head off I guess. I copied it here on my ipad and emailed it to lpd, plus reported it to the aj. Thats crap, threats. But thats why its the internet and thats also why we have the castle doctrine.

.....Bill's post, so I can't comment. He must have taken something that was posted way too seriously. I have to agree with Bill and Dave, but I don't take you (or any blog/post) seriously enough to get upset, mainly because you're dishonest and hypocritical. I would actually enjoy sparring with you if your words were truthful. The fact that you have to resort to lies/hypocrisy and the obama/democrat playbook demonstrates to all the depths of your intelligence and moral turpitude. Here's a true fact is fact for everyone. Through their first 2 seasons as head coach, Leach was 14-11 with Dykes-recruited KINGSBURY and a weaker big 12, and Turdville (yes, I've downgraded my opinion of him) was 13-12 with Leach-recruited POTTS/DOEGE. The factisfact is that y'all never gave him a chance because you hate kh@nce. Fortunately Turdville walked away and we get one of our own without paying Tom a severance/salary. I'm happy, why can't y'all be. kh@nce does not play or coach football!!

I'm sorry that the Leachers have had to watch Tech break donation and attendance records over the past few years while having such a mundane program, and will now have to watch Tech make even more money with more fan enthusiasm.

The Leachers have proven themselves to not be Red Raiders who support the school through thick and thin. Now that Kliff is here please don't come back on the bandwagon because we don't want you. And neither does Coach Kliffy.

I dont think its the number of posts that has you in a frenzy. Its the fact that you and the other hancers on here have no answer other than auditing those who make you look stupid for the number of posts and time of day that they commented. Which, if even remotely accurate, bespeaks of a great deal of time spent finding and reading my posts. It just dawned on me, youre a fan of mine. Thank you.

... blood pressure. Practice reading his post in the mirror. If your face turns red, enlarges in size, and threatens to explode, you're thinking with the wrong head and need to engage in some healthy exercise with your wife. Alternative therapies include consulting Jim and Jack, Sam or Bud. Stay away from those troublemakers Smith and Wesson, unless coyote is of the four-legged variety.

Theres also those little squeezy things, stamp collecting, learning a foreign language, and the "ignore user" function (Its located at the bottom of each post. I spelled it for you for your convenience). Ultimately my intention was not to make you have a stroke. In fact, I felt like I was doing you a favor by enlightening you regarding the many aspects of Tech football that you are wrong about. Even you, who, in as far as we know, coached beyond the peewee soccer level still are never too young to learn.